90s Kid’s Superstar: Ratan Tata

We use the word Tata to say good bye and he has built an empire around that word. He took reins from JRD Tata in 1991 and went on to become one of the most prominent businessmen in the country. He got the reigns of Tata group not because he was Tata, he proved his worth for that position. He started his career on shop floor in steel factory in Jamshedpur. There, he used to shovel limestone and used to handle the blast furnace. Before joining TISCO, he was working in architectural company in Los Angeles. He became an architect in US and was happily employed there. He came back in this country and started working here because his grand mother wanted him to do so.

He worked on the shop floor and production relayed operations for quite some time. Then he was given the charge of NELCO, no one was ready to take charge of that company. According to him, he started enjoying himself from the moment he was given the charge of NELCO. Then in 1991, he was named successor of Tata group. At the age of 90, JRD Tata decided to hang his boots after naming him his successor. Ratan Tata began his tenure by setting retirement age. He replaced lot of company heads as they were ageing. Then he made individual companies to report at the group office and contribute some of their profit to build the Tata group brand.

He was the chairman of Tata group of companies for 21 years and during that period, the company’s profit grew over fifty times and revenue over forty times. He led his group of companies to global market by acquiring brands like Tetley, Jaguar, Land Rover and Corus. In this journey, he had some setbacks as well but he converted those setbacks into milestones. In 1999, he went to sell Tata Motors to Ford motors as it was making huge losses. There, he was humiliated by the officials of ford motors. He came back without making a deal. Then in 2008, he took over Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford motors. Not only that, he converted the losses of those two brands in profit and increased it six times.

No one can destroy iron but its own rust can! Likewise, no one can destroy a person but his own mindset can.

Ratan Tata became the chairman of Tata group in 90s and he grew as an entrepreneur with 90s generation. Thus, he is an inspiration for 90s generation. Being a 90s kid, I get inspired by his dedication, hard work, leadership abilities, ideologies and commitment. People, who know him well say, “he is a man of his words. He always does what he commits to do.” In the time when other businessmen were building penthouses or 27 floor building for themselves, he preferred to take salary instead of share in profit. He launched world’s cheapest car keeping India’s middle-class category (of people) in mind. Today, he is directly helping 90s kids by investing in their start up. After achieving so much as an entrepreneur, he still says that I am learning from the next generation (90s generation) entrepreneurs.

If you are a 90s kid and aspire to be an entrepreneur then Ratan Tata should be your role model.

Ratan Tata has been truly a pioneer and built some solid businesses out there for India. And as someone mentioned above you should read what he did to manage the aftermath of the terrorist attack at Taj in Mumbai. truly heroic and noble